The Band Without a Country

“We’re a land that prides itself on being ‘the land of the free and home of the brave.’ I believe that just as much as anyone else does. But for that, we need these different perspectives. We need to see how others think.”

“If we are a society that is suppressing art, we’re a society that is afraid of what it might reveal about itself. If we’re suppressing music, we’re suppressing emotions, we’re suppressing expression, we’re suppressing vulnerability, we’re suppressing the very essence of what makes us human. We are devaluing our own Humanity.”  18-year-old Harvard teenage musician, Rishab Jain

Weather Forecast

Memes are popular and seem to be everywhere.  Here’s one I saw recently.

Hey Siri, “What’s the weather like today?”

Siri replies, “Don’t worry about it.  You aren’t going anywhere.”

This one just struck me as LOL.  Maybe it is hysterically funny, or maybe it should be classified as gallows humor.  It points to a reality in our current stay-at-home climate but tongue-in-cheek, it clearly indicates shared pain.

I have heard that we used to accept certain things as true, as baselines for discussions.  It was understood that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.  It was understood that we need air to breathe and that without it, we die.  It was understood that if it’s cold enough, rain becomes snow.

Groups of 10

I am aware that thousands of you are more qualified, more creative, more engaging, and more influential than I.  But whether you are a mover, shaker or dreamer, please finish this article and then point your inexhaustible talents toward creating hope and light for those around you.  I apologize in advance for the extended length.

Life has changed and for how long, we don’t know.  Looking forward to what a post-pandemic future might look like can only be called conjecture.

I am not interested in contributing more gloom to the discordant noise we hear daily.  News that reaches us from every source is foreboding and somber as we endeavor to keep up with moment-by-moment changes.  We learn what to do and what not do.  We examine current situations in neighboring communities and those of distance.

I think we’re called to more.

It’s not enough to talk about this around the water-cooler.  Oh right, we won’t find anyone at the water-cooler.  It’s not enough to soak up information from every authority available.  It’s not enough to ‘shelter-in-place’ tightly clutching our form of worry beads.

Millions are wrapped in sudden, unexpected turmoil as they experience the pain of head-snapping, almost violent change even if untouched by this virus.  As we pour over constant updates, we need to remember that the information we absorb is not only about statistics, restrictions, closings, layoffs, and quarantines (self-imposed or otherwise).  Beneath all of that, are people.  It should always be about people – close neighbors and those of distance.

I think we’re called to more.

Church-Search

The first note from Cincinnati

How are you!

It's been a while - again.  The last post was a type of goodbye to family and friends.  And, I'll admit, that getting back into a routine has been difficult. I'm working on it.

I'm not settled and cannot claim a 'place of my own'.  I am grateful that the decision could be delayed for a time while investigating neighborhoods, distances, amenities and convenience.  Desperation had not reared it's head.

I'm also not settled in a church community.  But investigating this home has been quite an experience. Some of you have made suggestions as you were able - appreciated, truly!

I've been to well more than a dozen communities - so far.  .